CELL PHONE DETECTOR

PROJECT INDEX: PRJ071

By

MWANGO AMBROSE NYALE

F17/1438/2011

SUPERVISOR: DR. V. DHARMADHIKARY

EXAMINER: DR. AKUON

Project report submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award
of the degree of

Bachelor of Science in Electrical and Electronic Engineering of the

University of Nairobi

Date of submission: 13th May 2016

Department of Electrical and Information Engineering

DECLARATION OF ORIGINALITY

NAMEOFSTUDENT: MWANGO AMBROSE NYALE

REGISTRATION NUMBER: F17/1438/2011

COLLEGE: Architecture and Engineering

FACULTY/SCHOOL/INSTITUTE: Engineering

DEPARTMENT: Electrical and Information Engineering

COURSE NAME: Bachelor of Science in Electrical and

Electronic Engineering

TITLE OF WORK: CELL PHONE DETECTOR

1. I understand what plagiarism is and I am aware of the university policy in this regard.
2. I declare that this final year project report is my original work and has not been
submitted elsewhere for examination, award of a degree or publication. Where other
peoples work or my own work has been used, this has properly been acknowledged and
referenced in accordance with the University of Nairobis requirements.
3. I have not sought or used the services of any professional agencies to produce this work.
4. I have not allowed, and shall not allow anyone to copy my work with the intention of
passing it off as his/her own work.
5. I understand that any false claim in respect of this work shall result in disciplinary action,
in accordance with University anti-plagiarism policy.

Signature:

Date:5/13/16

i
DEDICATION

Dedicated to my mother and family,

you are a handful but you mean a lot to me

ii
CERTIFICATION

This report has been submitted to the Department of Electrical and Information Engineering,
University of Nairobi with my approval as supervisor:

..
Dr. V. Dharmadhikary

Date..

iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank the Almighty God for giving me strength and wisdom throughout this
project.
I would also like to extend my sincere gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. V. Dharmadhikary for
his guidance when I was undertaking this project. My sincere gratitude to Mr. Gevirah Otieno
for his insightful and challenging ideas and the technical staff of the Department of Electrical
and Information Engineering for their guidance in this work.
I would like to acknowledge my friend and classmate, Rajab Said for his motivation and
challenging ideas to think without the box.
To my classmates whom we spent hours brainstorming for ideas, I am very grateful for your
efforts.

iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLARATION OF ORIGINALITY ....................................................................................
DEDICATION ...................................................................................................................... II
CERTIFICATION ................................................................................................................III
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................ IV
TABLE OF FIGURES........................................................................................................ VII
ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................... VIII

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................. 1

1.1 BACKGROUND .................................................................................................................. 1

1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT...................................................................................................... 2
1.3 PROBLEM JUSTIFICATION ................................................................................................. 2
1.4 MAIN OBJECTIVES ............................................................................................................ 3
1.5 SCOPE OF WORK ............................................................................................................... 3

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................... 4

2.1 DETECTABILITY OF MOBILE PHONES ................................................................................ 4

2.1.1 The RF System ......................................................................................................... 4
2.1.2 Combined Audio and RF Signals............................................................................. 5
2.2 COMMERCIAL CELL PHONE DETECTORS .......................................................................... 7
2.2.1 WolfhoundTM Pro Cellphone Detector..................................................................... 7
2.2.2. Manta Ray Cell Phone Detector ............................................................................. 9
2.3 DETECTION TECHNIQUES ............................................................................................... 10
2.3.1 RF Spectrum Approach ......................................................................................... 10
2.3.2 Frequency Jamming .............................................................................................. 13

CHAPTER 3: DESIGN............................................................................................................ 16

3.1 IMPLEMENTATION DESIGN ............................................................................................. 16

3.1.1 Block Diagram ....................................................................................................... 16
3.2 HIGH FREQUENCY LOOP ANTENNA ................................................................................ 16
3.3 CURRENT TO VOLTAGE CONVERTER .............................................................................. 17
3.4 AMPLIFIER ...................................................................................................................... 18
3.5 COMPLETE CIRCUIT ........................................................................................................ 21

CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION....................................................................... 23

v
 4.1 SIMULATION RESULTS .................................................................................................... 23
4.2 PRACTICAL RESULTS ...................................................................................................... 24

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION ............................................... 28

5.1 CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................. 28

5.2 RECOMMENDATIONS AND FURTHER WORK..................................................................... 28

REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................ 29

BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................................................... 30

APPENDICES ......................................................................................................................... 31

A: DATASHEETS ................................................................................................................... 31
B: PROJECT COST ANALYSIS ................................................................................................ 42
C: PCB LAYOUT .................................................................................................................. 42

vi
TABLE OF FIGURES
FIG 2.1: MAGNETIC COUPLING TEST SET-UP ................................................................................ 5
FIG 2.2: COMBINED AUDIO AND RF SET-UP ................................................................................ 6
FIG 2.3: COMBINED AUDIO AND RF BLOCK DIAGRAM ................................................................ 6
FIG 2.4: RESULTS ........................................................................................................................ 7
FIG 2.5: SETTING UP SCREEN ....................................................................................................... 8
FIG 2.6: WOLFHOUND PRO CELLPHONE DETECTOR...................................................................... 8
FIG 2.7: WOLFHOUND PRO PC SOFTWARE.................................................................................... 9
FIG 2.8: MANTA RAY CELLPHONE DETECTOR............................................................................. 10
FIG 2.9: BLOCK DIAGRAM ......................................................................................................... 11
FIG 2.10: LCD INTEGRATION .................................................................................................... 11
FIG 2.11: CELLPHONE DETECTOR TYPICAL CIRCUIT .................................................................. 12
FIG 2.12: CELLPHONE DETECTOR WITH FREQUENCY DOWN CONVERTER ................................... 12
FIG 2.13: CELLPHONE JAMMER IN A CELL ................................................................................. 14

FIG 3.1: BLOCK DIAGRAM ........................................................................................................ 16

FIG 3.2: CURRENT TO VOLTAGE CONVERTER ............................................................................ 17
FIG 3.3: AMPLIFIER ................................................................................................................... 19
FIG 3.4: AMPLIFIER DC POINT ANALYSIS .................................................................................. 20
FIG 3.5: BJT 1 ANALYSIS .......................................................................................................... 20
FIG 3.6: BJT 2 ANALYSIS .......................................................................................................... 21
FIG 3.7: COMPLETE DETECTOR CIRCUIT .................................................................................... 21
Fig 4.1: Output simulation results.. ..23

FIG 4.2: DETECTOR OUTPUT WHEN CELL PHONE IS NOT IN USE ................................................. 24
FIG 4.3: DETECTOR OUTPUT WHEN CELL PHONE IS IN USE ......................................................... 25
FIG 4.4: DETECTOR OUTPUT WHEN CELL PHONE IS IN USE ......................................................... 26
FIG 4.5: OUTPUT AT LED.......................................................................................................... 27
Table 1: Project cost.....................................................................................................42

Fig c.1: PCB Layout.42

vii
ABSTRACT

Cell phones are widely used in the world. While people have to be connected to one
another, there are situations or places where there usage is to be prohibited either due to
security reasons or it may cause health hazards.
Cell phone detection has been on investigation for a long time. There are techniques
which have been formulated or proposed on how cell phones can be detected. Most of
them use the features such as audio system, RF system and common materials of the
phones and try to look into how they can be used as basis to detect mobile phones.
This project utilizes the RF system of the cell phone as the feature to be used to detect its
presence. A circuit that detects signals of the range 0.9GHz to 3GHz is used to detect a
cell phone when in use. When the signal is detected, an LED blinks to indicate the usage
of a cell phone within a radius of 1.5 metres.

viii
 Chapter 1

Introduction

1.1 Background
Cell phones have become an integral part of peoples lives. They are not only used for
communication via short messaging service (SMS), calls, emails and internet but advanced
applications such as remote health monitoring systems and security systems have been
integrated with mobile phones.

The recent years have seen rapid advancements in the value addition applications in mobile
phones such as high definition cameras and high speed internet connectivity. The country has
also experienced developments in the infrastructures to support the rising need of faster
internet connectivity. Safaricom rolled out their 4G internet infrastructure which is now
available in over thirteen towns in the country.

Despite the advantages enjoyed by these advancements in mobile technology, there are
threats that have been posed by their usage. Company data mining has been a big threat in the
industry where employees are able to access sensitive company information and share with
the competitors. This led to the development of cell phone jammers where signal reception is
completely blocked when you enter the premises. Despite personal privacy invaded by the
usage of such devices, this could not put to an end the vice since mobile phones could be
connected to the computer and information transferred and sent when the employee is out of
the company premises. Criminal activities and attempted escape incidences have been
organized by inmates in correctional institutions through the use of mobile phones in such
facilities. The most common incidence in the country is when people were conned by inmates
who impersonated promoters and required winners to send money as fees to facilitate the
award of prizes. Life support machines are also sensitive to the use of mobile phones. The use
of mobile phones in such a facility leads to adverse repercussions to the life of persons whose
lives depend on the proper functionality of the machines. Other places are aeroplanes, petrol
stations, conference halls, examination halls, worship centers, etc. where the use of mobile
phones can either lead to failure of sensitive machines or is a nuisance.

1
It is therefore a reality that mobile usage is some places must be prohibited. Due to the
privacy laws that limit the use of cell phone jammers, cell phone detectors must be designed
and installed so that in case a person gets in with a phone into such places, they can be
notified and either told to switch them off or take them outside. The effectiveness of cell
phone detectors is that they continually scan for the presence and usage of the cell phone and
sound an alarm to notify the user or security personnel.

1.2 Problem Statement

The University has a NO mobile phone in examination halls regulation. Students undergo
frisking as they enter the examination venues by invigilators. Frisking is gender sensitive and
people feel that their privacy is infringed. It is beyond ones imagination of what can happen
when there is no female staff to frisk the female students which is mostly the case in the
school of engineering. This is not saying that only female students are prone to carry their
mobile phones into the examination halls but it opens doors for gross irregularities as the
contents of these gadgets can be easily shared via messages and bluetooth.

1.3 Problem Justification

Despite frisking of students before they enter into examination halls, some manage to
smuggle mobile phones into the halls. Mobile phone usage in examination halls opens doors
to examination irregularities as most phones have high definition cameras and can read PDF
documents therefore class notes are easily accessed during the examination. The same can
also be shared via Bluetooth, WiFi and messaging.

Due to this problem that has been experienced in the university for years, there is a need to
design a system that can detect the presence and usage of mobile phones in the examination
halls. This project is therefore aimed towards designing a cell phone detector that will be
installed in the examination venues. This will curb the vice because even though some may
manage to smuggle them into the halls, their usage and presence are continuously monitored
by the system and offenders can be caught.

This detector is not limited for use in examination halls only. It may be used in hospitals,
conference halls, correctional institutions and other places where the use of mobile phones
must be prohibited.

2
1.4 Main Objectives
The main objectives of this project are to:

(i). Design a circuit that can detect signals in the range of 0.9GHz to 3GHz within a
radius of one and a half metres.
(ii).Produce a notification when the signals in the range of 0.9 GHz to 3 GHz are detected.

1.5 Scope of work

This project is limited to the detection of a cell phone that is in use; on call, communication
via short messaging service and internet access. The detection of cell phones that are on
standby mode, switched off or on airplane mode will not be included in this project.

3
 Chapter 2

Literature Review

2.1 Detectability of Mobile phones

The versatility of mobile phones cannot be underestimated. They are very portable and
compact and can perform an array of functions ranging from a simple call, SMS, data
services, a simple digital organizer to those of a low end personal computer. Most mobile
phones have a basic set of comparable features and capabilities.

Exploring the features of most cell phones show that they have a microprocessor, a read only
memory (ROM) that provides a storage for the operating system, a random access memory
(RAM) that temporarily provides storage for data when the cell phone is powered, a radio
module, a digital signal processor, a microphone, a speaker, a variety of hardware keys and
interface and a liquid crystal display (LCD) [1].

A focus to detect mobile phones has therefore to focus on these features to determine the
potential vulnerability as entry points. Tests were carried at Pacific Northwest National
Laboratories (USA) to determine the potential vulnerability of the microphone, speaker and
RF system as entry points for detection.

2.1.1 The RF System

The first part on determining the RF system as potential detection point was carried out by
looking for the internal oscillators necessary to operate the microprocessor and RF
synthesizer. The results were not satisfactory and it was established that the cell phones had
been designed to meet the electromagnetic interference specifications.

The second part of the experiment was carried out to detect the cell phone by detecting the
RF transmitted. This was done by the use of an RF signal strength meter, an amplifier, a
mixer and a filter. They found out that since the mobile phone keeps a continuous
communication with the tower, this technique was successful.

4
 2.1.2 Combined Audio and RF Signals
The combined audio and RF signal tests were done by carrying out a magnetic coupling test.

Fig 2.1: Magnetic coupling test set-up

In this test a frequency synthesizer was used to drive one coil at 28MHz and a spectrum
analyzer used to monitor the output of the second coil. The cell phones presence or position
relative to either coil made no change in the observed signal from the second coil.

A modification was made that incorporated an audio speaker to make the cell phones
microphone or speakers react to the audio signal with an RF spectrum analyzer configured to
demodulate AM signals.

5
 Fig 2.2: Combined Audio and RF set-up

A block diagram of the setup is in fig 2.3 below. The RF transmitter and receiver was to be
used to sense cell phone when reacting to the audio signal.

Fig 2.3: Combined Audio and RF block diagram

The results obtained from the test were encouraging but the cell phone was found not to
respond when it was shielded.

6
 Fig 2.4: Results

2.2 Commercial Cell Phone Detectors

Cell phone detectors have been in the market for many years. They have been in use in
prisons and correctional institutions to ensure that inmates do not smuggle or use cell phones
in the facility, in government institutions and security teams in the USA for long. In this
section we give a summary of some of the recent cell phone detectors in the market and their
outstanding features.

2.2.1 WolfhoundTM Pro Cellphone Detector

This cell phone detector is manufactured by Berkeley Varitronics Systems in the Unites
States of America (USA) [2]. According to the advertisement note on their brochure, this cell
phone detector can detect cell phone operating on 3G and 4G. It identifies each cellphone by
RF frequency allowing for detection and identification of multiple cellphones. Its antenna
uses a multiband Directional Finding (DF) antenna system with an ability to detect up to 150
feet (about 50 metres) for indoor applications and one mile (line-of-sight) for outdoor
application. It is listed as the most sensitive cell phone detector in the market. It comes with
user band frequency selection depending on the country to be used.

7
 Fig 2.5: Setting up screen

The detector can detect phones in standby mode. The registration varies with base stations
with phones registering once every few minutes up to 20 minutes. This time varies greatly
based upon carriers, distance from base station and individual cell phone manufacturers
standards.

Fig 2.6: Wolfhound pro cellphone detector

8
It had a dynamic range of 60dB and a bandwidth resolution of 2MHz. This detector has a
threshold setting and comes with optional PC software which receives data from the detector
via a mini USB port allowing real time monitoring, generation and printing of reports, and
saves logs into an SQL database.

Fig 2.7: Wolfhound pro pc software

The price of a piece of this device goes for $2,400.00 according to their website.

2.2.2. Manta Ray Cell Phone Detector

The Manta Ray cell phone detector is manufactured by Berkeley Varitronics Systems in the
Unites States of America (USA). It is a close range cell phone scanner than scans concealed
cell phones even when they are off and their battery is removed.

9
 Fig 2.8: manta ray cellphone detector
The unique technology that uses is that it scans for specific components common to all cell
phones and not just metal. This way it reduces false triggers like coins, belt buckles, keys,
watches and other common metal items that may trigger a standard metal detector.

From the manufacturers promotion video, it shows this detector can detect cell phones even
when they are concealed behind bricks and concrete. Furthermore, it can work both in
handheld mode and stationary mode.

2.3 Detection Techniques

The detectors already in the market employ different detection techniques. Each manufacturer
has their design although the basic procedure how the detection is done may be common.

2.3.1 RF Spectrum Approach

Every mobile phone uses the frequency spectrum for communication. Manufacturers use
different frequencies in their mobile phones for communication depending on the federal
laws of the country and radiation regulations. A study carried out by Pacific Northwest
National Laboratory for the United States Department of Energy on cell phone detection
using this technique showed that different phones propagated using different frequency
ranges.

An LG cellular phone had distinctive signals from 260MHz to 300MHz.

A Motorola cellular phone had distinct signals in the range of 240MHz and 400MHz.
A Samsung cell phone had distinctive signals between 340MHz and 385MHz.

10
 Nokia cell phone had distinct signal at 245MHz.

In this detection approach, a passive circuit listens for any emissions from a cellular phone
when it is either waiting for a call or transmitting and does not require an external signal to
detect the phone. This is advantageous especially in areas where power emissions from
electromagnetic sources are highly prohibited.

The circuit implementation of this approach differs in so many ways. One of the approaches
is in fig 2.9 as a block diagram.[3]

Fig 2.9: Block diagram

For versatility, an LCD can be interfaced to notify the person monitoring of a cell phone
detected. This ensures that even when the power level is low, like in the case of standby
phone, to drive the buzzer, a notification like MOBILE PHONE DETECTED will be of use
as an alarm.

Fig 2.10: LCD Integration

Fig 2.11 shows a typical implementation circuit for the detector using the approach of the
block diagram of fig 2.9.

11
 Fig 2.11: Cellphone detector typical circuit

The second proposed approach using this detection technique is the use a frequency down
converter with a band pass filter [4].

Fig 2.12: Cellphone detector with frequency down converter

12
The RF spectrum measurement approach had shortcomings. The iPhone propagation range
could not be detected. Another highlighted shortcoming is that even in the absence of a
cellphone, signals could still be detected. The proposed solution to this problem was to design
a circuit that masked the signals detected in the absence of a cell phone. It was proposed that
a passive infrared detector be included in the system to detect the presence of a person at the
entrance to a limited area. Its function will be to cause the Cell Phone Detector to transition
from measurement of the background signals into the cell phone detector mode.

2.3.2 Frequency Jamming

Mobile phones work by transmitting signals between the mobile phone and the base station or
tower. Therefore, one of the methods to detect the mobile phone is to have another device
transmitting at the same frequency as the mobile phone but at higher power level. As the
phone signal is interfered by the device, service on the phone is blocked. Since the phone
may be moving around and therefore its signal handed over from one base station in a cell to
another, the jamming device performs well when placed in between two the two cells to
ensure total denial of service [5].

The person interested in detecting the phone is usually not concerned with the exact location
but only the fact that there is no communication via the phone. Parties can therefore enter the
locality with the devices but cannot use them for calls, emails, bluetooth or SMS provided the
jamming device propagates at the frequency these services use.

The devices that jam frequencies consist of the following parts in the circuitry:

Voltage controlled oscillator (VCO): The VCO generate the frequency at which the cell
phone transmit and therefore interfere with the communication.
Tuning circuit: This circuit controls the frequency at which the jammer broadcasts its
signal by sending a particular voltage to the oscillator.
Noise generator: It produces random electronic output in a specified frequency range to
jam the cell-phone network signal. It can be part of the tuning circuit.
RF amplification: This is the stage where the gain is provided. It boosts the power of the
radio frequency output to higher levels that are enough to jam a signal from the mobile
phone.

13
 Fig 2.13: Cellphone jammer in a cell

This type of detection has been in use in movie theatres, correctional institutions and in the
military to name but a few. Some of the jammers can be tuned in to different frequencies and
therefore can be used to block specific devices only. They can be handheld or installed in
buildings or any other places where they need to block the mobile phones.

Figure 2.14: Cell phone jammer by Netline Communications Technologies Ltd

The disadvantage of this technique is that cell phones in the jammed locality can still be used
for other services such as data mining which pose a very big problem in companies. In the
case of examination halls, the phone smuggled can be used in examination irregularities

14
despite having a jammer in the hall. This method therefore proves to be ineffective in cases
where cell phone usage is prohibited.

15
 Chapter 3

Design
3.1 Implementation Design
Among the detection techniques described in Section 2.3, the RF spectrum approach was
selected for implementation. The choice of this selection was based on the ease of
implementation due to readily availability of the discrete components required in the local
market. The most effective method is the implementation using voltage controlled oscillator
(VCO), frequency down-converter and a band pass filter. However, due to the unavailability
of the components required in the local market, the method could not be implemented within
the timeline of this project.

3.1.1 Block Diagram

The block diagram of the design is shown in figure 3.1 below.

Fig 3.1: Block Diagram

Based on the block diagram of figure 3.1, the circuit design of each block was designed and
the final circuit integrated together. The subsequent sections explain the detail and design of
each block diagram.

3.2 High Frequency Loop Antenna

The frequency to be detected is 0.9 Gigahertz to 3 Gigahertz. Passive components suffer from
parasitic effects at this high frequency. In ordinary radio frequency (RF) antenna design, LC
components tuned at desired frequency are used. However, at this frequency the components
behave as lumped R, L and C and as transmission lines and antenna [6]. In the loop antenna
design at this frequency, the parasitic effects of these elements are used. The inductance
associated with the fixed separation of capacitor leads is observed when the Maxwells
equation

16
is inspected [7].

The loop antenna consists of a 0.22uF ceramic capacitor with it leads fixed at 18mm long and
8mm wide. These dimensions fixed provide an area sufficient to capture the frequency
required. Hence, it is a loop antenna. When there is no signal detected, the capacitor charges
and stores energy. When a field created by the presence of a mobile phone is detected, the
energy balance in the capacitor is perturbed. A displacement current is injected into the
capacitor leads generating a magnetic field hence inductance in the leads. The inductance
together with the capacitance acts as a transmission line that transmits the current to the
current to voltage converter.

3.3 Current to Voltage Converter

The current to voltage converter consists of a CA3130E operational amplifier. It has a
MOSFET input stage and a CMOS output stage. The input stage provides a very high input
impedance and low input current (typical 5pA at 15V). Since the loop antenna generates very
small current, this makes this type of operational amplifier suitable for this application.
Furthermore, it is a single power supply operational amplifier. Therefore, it gives no hard
work generating a negative biasing voltage as a dual voltage operational amplifier. The
CMOS stage provides an output swing to about 10mV of the supply voltage.

Fig 3.2: Current to voltage converter

17
The operational amplifier is connected as a current to voltage converter and has a voltage
comparator. The comparator consists of R1 and R3 connected on the non-inverting terminal.

When .

From fig 3.2, the 0.22uF capacitor which acts as a loop antenna is connected across the non-
inverting and inverting terminals of the operational amplifier. The capacitor stores energy and
in the absence of a mobile phone, both the positive and negative terminals receive the same
voltage, that is equal to hence the output of the operational amplifier is low.

When a mobile phone is radiating and its frequency is sensed by capacitor C1, the balance
between the inverting and non-inverting terminals of the operational amplifier is perturbed.
The current is transmitted to the non-inverting terminal and a voltage is sensed at the output.
The 100uF electrolytic capacitor (C2) connected to the non-inverting terminal ensures
stability of the terminal and fast output swing. The capacitor charges during operation and to
bring it back to stable condition, the 100K resistor (R3) provides a discharge path.

The feedback resistor is not for amplification but provides feedback to the inverting terminal
such that when the output goes high, the state is also fed back to the inverting terminal
making it high. However, since the frequency of the radiation from the mobile phone is
pulsating, the sensing capacitor C1 (loop antenna) oscillates hence the output.

3.4 Amplifier
Since the voltage at the output is small, it needs to be amplified in order to drive the
notification devices (LED or sound buzzer). At standby mode of the cell phone the voltage
output from the current to voltage converter can be as low as 10mV. Therefore an amplifier
that has little or no offsets voltage level is required. The best amplifier is a two stage
transistor based. An op amp based would suffer from offset voltages hence not effective in
this design. With a low voltage of this order it is hard to eliminate the effects of noise due to
the sensitive tuning of the amplifier.

18
 Fig 3.3: Amplifier

The 10uF input coupling capacitor blocks any dc voltages at the input. The biasing used is the
collector-feedback bias. The advantage of this bias design in RF operation is that it provides
temperature stabilization such that as the temperature increases, the transistor starts to
conduct more current from emitter to collector. Since the base resistor is directly connected to
the collector, any rise in Ic will permit more voltage to drop across the collector resistor. This
will force less voltage to be dropped across the base resistor hence IB decreases consequently
Ic.:

The bypass capacitor at the emitter bypasses the RF signal around the emitter resistor to
avoid excessive RF gain degeneration in the circuit [8].

C4 (0.1uF) was connected between the base and emitter of the transistor in the final stage to
ensure that it provides fast switching of the transistor.

Bias Analysis

The bias of the circuit was analysis by determining the DC operating points of the circuit.
The requirements in a design is to make

19
 which is satisfied in this circuit. The minimum collector current of the transistor is

10mA. The operating point was set at about 20mA for both amplification stages. Figure 3.
and figure 3. show the BJT analysis for stage one and two respectively.

Fig 3.4: Amplifier DC point analysis

Fig 3.5: BJT 1 analysis

20
 Fig 3.6: BJT 2 Analysis
The amplifier was therefore design as stated above with all the operating point as defined.

The final stage which is the notification stage was integrated with the amplifier. The chosen
notification in the design was an LED. The LED was connected to the emitter of the last
transistor of the final amplification stage. The operating point of the voltage at the emitter
was held at about 3.0V to ensure that a small variation of the voltage due to voltage swing
from the current to voltage converter would make the LED to blink.

3.5 Complete Circuit

The complete circuit for the cell phone detector is given in figure 3. below.

Fig 3.7: Complete detector circuit

21
The 22pF capacitors are connected to the antenna side. The antenna is to make sure the
detector receives the optimum level of the signal from the phone.

22
 Chapter 4

Results and Discussion

4.1 Simulation results

The loop antenna designed in this project was not subjected to simulation environment due to
the limitation of the software at the design operating frequency of the detector. Most
softwares are limited to 100MHz operating frequency. Beyond this point, the software
overloads the CPU hence no real time results can be obtained. Furthermore, at the very high
frequency operation expected, the parasitic effects of the passive elements will not be
depicted in the software environment hence real-time operation of the detector could not be
obtained by simulation.

The amplifier was simulated. In place of the current to voltage converter, a signal generator
was used. The amplifier was simulated at 50mV pk voltage and the voltage waveforms at the
LED monitored.

Fig 4.1: Output simulation results

23
With the swinging of the voltage at the output, the LED was found to be blinking. Therefore
it was expected that upon connection of the detector and current to voltage converter to the
amplification stage, the LED would blink as expected in these simulation results.

4.2 Practical Results

The practical results obtained from the detector before and after a cell phone is adjacent to
the detector are in the figures.

Fig 4.2: Detector Output when cell phone is not in use

24
Fig 4.3: Detector output when cell phone is in use

25
 Fig 4.4: Detector output when cell phone is in use
The difference in the output waveforms of fig 4.3 and fig 4.4 is because of the difference in
the vertical v/div setting in the figures.

At the output of the cell phone detector circuit, an LED was used. The practical waveform
obtained is in figure 4.5.

26
 Fig 4.5: Output at LED
This output waveform made the LED to blink indicating that a cell phone was in use.

27
 Chapter 5

Conclusion and Recommendation

5.1 Conclusion
The results as obtained from fig 4.2 through fig 4.4 show that the cell phone detector worked
sufficiently. The detector could detect the signal in the frequency range of 0.9GHz to 3.0
GHz thus a cell phone that is in use. This phone usage was indicated by the blinking of the
LED. When a cell phone is on standby mode, it keeps a radio silence therefore cannot be
detected using this cell phone detector. It can be concluded that the project was successful.

This detector can therefore be used to track the usage of a cell phone in an examination room
where a buzzer usage will be too loud and disturb the examiners.

5.2 Recommendations and Further work

The following are recommended to improve the functionality of this cell phone detector: -

(i). Increase the range of the detector.

(ii). Incorporate a buzzer to sound an alarm when a cell phone in use is detected.
(iii).Use of microcontroller to improve the detector.
(iv). Make the LED go off until a cell phone is in use.
(v). Improve the detector to be able to detect even cell phones on standby mode

28
References
[1] RM Pratt et al., "Cell Phone Detection Techniques," TN, Prepared for the US Department
of Energy October 2007.

[2] Berkeley Varitronics Systems, Inc. (2016, March) Wolfhound-PRO Cell Phone Detector.
[Online]. https://www.bvsystems.com/products/

[3] Deshpande Tamvi and Jadhav Nakul, "Active Cell phone detection and Display using
Atmega-8 Microcontroller," IMPACT: International Journal of Research in Engineering
& Technology (IMPACT: IJRET), vol. 3, no. 8, pp. 21-24, August 2015.

[4] Nicholas W. Scott, "Study of Cellular Phone Detection Techniques," University of

Nebraska, Lincoln, MSc Thesis 2011.

[5] HowStuffWorks. (2005, January) How Cell Phone Jammers Work. [Online].
http://www.electronics.howstuffworks.com/cell-phone-jammer.htm

[6] Garry Breed, "Fundamentals of Passive Component Behaviour at High Frequencies,"

Summit Technical Media, High Frequency Design: Component Behaviour 2006.

[7] Pieter L.D. Abriel, Design of RF and Microwave Amplifiers and Oscillators, 2nd ed. MA,
Norwood: Artech House, 2009.

[8] Iulian Rosu, "Bias Circuits for RF Devices," YO3DAC/VA31UL,.

29
Bibliography
ElectroSchematics. Mobile Bug Circuit. [Online], www.electroschematics.com/1035/mobile-
bug-detector-sniffer Accessed: 12th Jan 2016.

Theodore S., Cellular Radio and Personal Communication: Selected Readings, Piscataway,
USA: IEEE, 1994.

Texas Instruments, "HF Antenna Design Notes: Technical Application Report," Literature
Number: 11-08-26-003, Radio Frequency Identification Systems, September 2003.

M. Sucharitha et al., "An Optimal Detection Technique for Mobile Radio Frequencies,"
IJMIE: International Journal of Management, IT & Engineering, vol. 2, Issue 5, pp. 244-256,
May 2012.

Du Hong, Zhu Dali, and Sun Degang, "New Solutions For Cell Phone Detection," in
Proceedings of the First International Conference on the Digital Society: IEEE, Beijing,
2007.

Sedra A.S. and Smith K.C., Microelectronic Circuits: Theory and Applications, 5th ed. New
Delhi, India: OUP, 2009.

Mbaocha C. Christian, "Design and Implementation of an Intelligent Mobile Phone Detector,

Academic Research International, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 478-483, July 2012.

30
Appendices

A: Datasheets

31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
B: Project Cost Analysis

Table 1: Project cost

Component Description Quantity Unit cost Total (Kshs)

CA3130 BiMOS operational amplifier, 1 195 195
MOSFET Input, CMOS output
BC548B General purpose NPN 2 30 60
transistor
Capacitors Electrolytic: - 1 pc each 15 60
- 100uF (16V)
- 10uF
- 47uF
- 22uF
Ceramic: - 5 5 25
- 2 22pF
- 0.22uF
- 47pF
- 0.1uF
Resistors 2 2.2M,100K, 91K, 2 -150, 8 5 40
100, 63K
LED 3.0V 1 5 5
9V cell Energizer, with connector 1 750 750
PCB Board 9X5 1 150 150
TOTAL 1285

C: PCB Layout

Fig c.1: PCB Layout

42